1

Children's Choir of Russia and the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony

Of Elena Shchapova

Olympics are the world's most important sports event for over a hundred years, the

significant development in the international cooperation between countries. XXII

Olympic Winter Games in Sochi has attracted the attention of the world community to

Russia, but also caused serious positive changes not just in sports but also in Russian

culture.

1

The idea of participation of the thousand-voiced Children's choir at the Closing

Ceremony of the Olympics indicates a revival of the tradition mass choir singing,

widespread in Russia and the Soviet Union in times past, as well as new views about the

artistic education of the younger generation.

2 2 3

Difficult transition

Today, Russia overcame the difficult time of the country’s transition to a new economic

path, and revives traditions of massed children's singing again. We have to note that the

second half of the twentieth century in the Russian Federation was marked by a number

of significant achievements in children’s choral performance.

Thanks to the activity of the All-Russian Choral Society (1957-1987), great success was

achieved in the areas of both the science and practical application of stored theoretical

knowledge.

First of all, in professional education, the network of music education colleges and

faculties preparing singing teachers and leaders of children’s choirs was enlarged, and

evening and correspondence courses were opened at universities specializing in cultural

studies. By the middle of the 1980s, the percentage of teachers in school across Russia

had more than doubled.

For example, in Magnitogorsk (410,000 inhabitants) in that time were 134 children’s

choirs in 57 municipal schools and the 1986 «May song festival» the massed choir,

which performed consisted of no less than ten thousands schoolchildren.

4

3

Achievements of the past

Children’s choral performances in USSR could not have reached such impressive

standards without fundamental study of the culture of children’s voices and process of

singing by physiologists, phoniatrists and educators, and the promotion and integration

of these achievements into educational programs.

All-Russian Choral Society (ARCS) popularized the new scientific knowledge of the

Experimental Phonetics laboratory of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory and

Phonetics laboratory of Scientific Institute of Arts Education of State Academy of

Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR.

ARCS arranged developmental programs through 76 region branches, which supervised

children’s choirs. To develop extra-curricular choral activity, the ARCS ensured the

scientific and instructional support of children’s choral associations at public and music

schools, extra-curricular institutions, clubs and houses of culture.

The experience of the Children’s Choral Studios and State Boys Choral Colleges in

Leningrad (now Glinka Choral College in Sankt-Petersburg), Moscow (now Moscow

State Choir College (MGHU) named after Sveshnikov), Gorkij (now Nizhniy Novgorod

choral colledge named after Sivukhin) was considered the most promising and

appropriate from the point of the educational process. They became something like a

creative laboratory for study the process of children’s singing.

5

In the late 1970-s the USSR had more than 600 choral schools and studios. The 1980s

could be called the rise of massed children’s singing education, as its popularity grew

significantly in that period. In the 64,168 schools in the Russia Federation there were

about 18,000 organizations of the ARCS, and a large number of children’s choirs

achieved the highest level of mastery.

4

High quality performance

The high quality of children’s choral performance also spurred the work of leading

Soviet composers (Banevich, Boyko, Pakhmutova, Podgaits, Rubin, Sidelnikov, Slonimsky,

Kabalevsky, Kalistratov etc.). Nevertheless, children’s choral repertoire was not limited

solely to secular Soviet music, but also ranges to world musical classics.

The range and complexity of children’s choral repertoire was significantly expanded,

from choral cycles and songs to oratorios, cantatas and operas. A lot of festivals of

children choral music, all-Union and all-Russian competitions of children’s choirs were

held.

6

Due to a marked increase in the quality of education, Russian children’s choral art was

highly rated at the Ninth International Conference of ISME (International Society for

Music Education) in 1970. Despite the fact that in the 1990s, in Russia, the number of

school and student choirs decreased, levels of many other groups continued to grow.

Today this is particularly relevant given, that social and political leaders seem to be

praising the advantages that vocal choir traditions have for the ethical and social values

of Russian culture and are ready to support mass choir education.

"The development of children's interest to music and art is the primary problem"- said

conductor Valery Gergiev on a meeting of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art in

the Kremlin - "I am more and more thought about how to help young people and

children not to go away from music, but come to her".

New steps

A new step in the Russian choral art starts in February 2013. All-Russian Choral Society

(ARCS) has been reconstructed through the initiatives the deputy prime minister for

5

social affairs of the Russian Federation Olga Golodets, Valery Gergiev and Civic Chamber

at the Russian parlament.

7

Children's Choir of Russia (CCR) is the first project of new ARCS. It is a truly unique choir,

which brings together thousands of children from all 83 regions of Russia (the most

remote region Chukotka is located about 6 200 km from Moscow), from different

nationalities (Chechens, Yakuts, Tatars, Mordovias, Chukchis, Buryats and others),

different religious beliefs.

Several thousand children

participated in the competition in

September - October 2013, and

the most talented, who is from 9

to 15 years old, who has a

beautiful voice, the purity of

intonation, as well as a cursory

solfeggio reading and the singing

a cappella skills, got the

opportunity to take part in the

project.

8

ARCS appointed a selection committee under participation well-known Russian choral

conductors: Andrei Petrenko (Mariinsky Theatre Chorus), Viktor Zakharchenko (Kuban

Cossack Choir), Gennady Dmitryak (Yurlov Russian State Academic Choir), Lyudmila

Litsova (Saratov Theatre of Choir Music) and many others who took part in a preparation

of the first music performance CCR in the new Mariinsky Theatre-2 in St. Petersburg.

This event has attracted attention and united the professional and amateur choral

community across the country.

6

Grand event

The project was a grand event. CCR united not only children, but also chorus lieders,

who trained and attended young singers. Many of them visited Moscow and St.

Petersburg for the first time. The accommodation of the entire team at the same hotel

opened an opportunity for exchange of experience and communication between

participants, who noted a particularly joyful, creative and friendly atmosphere.

It wasn’t easy to organize the

project: logistic, managerial and

creative. CCR consists of several

independent choirs of the eight

Federal districts of Russia. Each choir

in addition to general musical

program performs own choral

program which reflect the music

culture of their Regions. 9

Several musical compositions had been prepared by all singers which had just two

general rehearsals in St. Petersburg. Among them were works by Sergei Rachmaninoff,

Sergei Prokofiev, Georgy Sviridov, Alexander Alexandrov and other Russian composers.

10

7

For a thousand-voices choir was difficult to find an adequate space for rehearsals and a

concert. Even a Mariinsky Theatre-2 stage was not large enough, and thousand children

barely placed on. Then young singers had to meet with technical difficulties.

Due to the lack of monitors, the children in the back rows could barely see Valery

Gergiev, who conducted from the orchestra pit, Therefore, the first rows of young

singers had to sit during the concert. Fortunately all the difficulties were overcome. We

hope in the future such complexity should be provided and fixed.

Russian President visited the general rehearsal, and although Vladimir Putin is not

"risked" to add his voice to singing (as it did for example Angela Merkel with German

children’s choir), he listened with great attention the program and then communicated

with young singers with big interest.

11

The debut of the Children's Choir of Russia was held with Valery Gergiev and the

Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra in St. Petersburg on January 8. After the concert

Valery Gergiev said, "it was a musical event of the highest quality, one of the most

exciting moments not only in the history of recently opened Mariinsky-2, but also in my

life" („Rossijskaja Gazeta” Newspaper from 07/02/2014).

A full house, grandiose applause and live webcast confirm the high artistic level of the

program. This concert is now available on TV “Kultura” and youtube.

The performance at the Mariinsky Theatre-2 was a kind of general rehearsal to the

Closing Ceremony for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games.

Various projects – looking ahead

After this big event, the choir will take part in various cultural projects, festivals.

"Children's Choir of Russia was not created as a one-time Olympic project. This is a

grand event of contemporary musical culture of Russia. Singing and choral training is

the process which has to develop in Russia today.

8

I hope soon there will be a wide variety of children's choirs, thousands, in each Federal

District, in each city. And I prophesy the success of this grand plan. So wait for further

developments. I think that in next time Children's Choir of Russia will be of million

perfectly singing children" – said maestro Valery Gergiev ("Rossijskaja Gazeta"

07/02/2014).

Our colleagues, ARCS, the choirmasters themselves, the ones, who work with children’s

choirs, put in a lot of effort to make this wonderful project as a part of Russia’s reality.

To implement this big project, ARCS had demonstrated a high quality of organization

work and willingness for bigger choral events, such as World Choir Games, quite

possible in the near future in Sochi.

Today we have reason to hope that the government and social institutions of Russia will

try to create conditions which generate support for youth choirs and the development

of cooperation throughout the network, including on an international level.

FOTOS

1 – 3. Children's Choir of Russia is a participant of Closing Ceremony for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter

Games

4. The concert of schoolchildren. Conductor – composer, music educator and president of the

International Society of Musical Education Dmitri Kabalevsky (Tashkent. 1960s)

5. The First State Boys Choral Colleges in USSR (Leningrad. 1940)

6. The concert of Children’s Choral Studios in the State Kremlin Palace (Moscow. 1980s)

7. Valery Gergiev (Chairman of ARCS) and Pavel Pozhigajlo (Executive Secretary of ARCS) voted "Yes" at

the founding meeting ARCS (Moscow. 2013)

8. The National qualifying competition for Children's Choir of Russia in Buryatia

9. The Choir of the Southern Federal District of Russia as a part of Children's Choir of Russia. Conductor –

Viktor Zakharchenko (St. Petersburg. 2014)

10. Children's Choir of Russia on the stage of Mariinsky Theatre-2 (St. Petersburg. 2014)

11. Russian President Vladimir Putin and participants of Children's Choir of Russia (St. Petersburg. 2014)

LINKS

The choir of Glinka Choral College in St. Petersburg performs "Let God Resurrect" from Concerto № 34, by

Dmitri Bortnjanski (1751-1825) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP_rKBPDufE

The Film "Voices of the heart" about Moscow State Choir College named after Sveshnikov

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COkKuNbN0GM

The concert of Children's Choir of Russia in Mariinsky Theatre-2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6AhZER7qgA